


Getting Closer

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Alternate Universe, Original Character - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2000-08-03
Updated: 2000-08-03
Packaged: 2019-05-15 01:20:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14780936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: A close look on what Roni's demons are.





	1. Getting Closer

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

Notes: I've had this story, along with the other two I have recently posted, sitting around on my computer for the longest time, and am in the mood to dump them all out on to you guys, so here is yet another story from me.

Spoilers: You finally get to find out what Roni's demons are.

Disclaimer: If they haven't been on TWW, they are mine. If they have been on TWW, they are not mine, I'm just having fun.

One of the things Roni seemed to do most often when she was upset or nervous seemed to be pacing the many halls of the White House, and this time was no different. Except her mind was flooded with memories, painful flashbacks from her past.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A young, five year old Roni is in her room, sitting on her bed, trying to go to sleep at night, when her door starts to creak open.

"Who's there? Who is that?"

"I heard you've been a very naughty girl today," Keith said as he entered the room.

"No. Eric was lying to you. I didn't say those things. Please don't hit me dad. I didn't say them. He's just mad 'cause he got grounded and wants company. I didn't do it daddy."

"You know how I feel about that kind of stuff, and you know I have to spank you for it. If I don't, how will you learn?"

"I've already learned daddy. Don't hit me. I won't do it again. I promise."

"I'm sorry, but you're making me do it. I don't like spanking you, really, but you make me do it," Keith said. He then grabbed Roni, put her over his knee, and gave her a bare butt belt spanking. The more Roni struggled and cried, the worse she got hit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roni, now eight years old, came home from school to a messy house. Keith was waiting for her, just inside.

"It's about time you get home. Why didn't you clean the house? It looks like a pigsty. Do I look like a pig? Then why should I live like one? Get your *ss over here."

"Daddy, I cleaned it just yesterday. It was really clean. Mommy said so. It was still clean when I went to school. I didn't know it was messy. I would have cleaned it again if I knew daddy. Please daddy, don't hit me. It's not my fault daddy."

Removing the belt from around his waste, Keith said, "Why do we have this same conversation every time you make me hit you? Just for that, you are gonna get hit even more."

"No daddy, it's not my fault. Don't hit me, please daddy. I didn't do it, it's not my fault," cried Roni as she got another bare butt belt spanking.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ten-year-old Roni is in the living room, watching TV, when Andrew comes in the room. Andrew starts watching the show with her, until Mary comes in says, "Turn the TV off, Roni. Go do your homework."

"Yes, ma'am," Roni said as she did as she was told.

Andrew, who had decided he wanted to watch TV, was mad that Roni turned it off, and decided to kick her in the leg. "Turn it back on, turn it back on."

With this, Roni chased her little four-year-old brother out the back door, where she finally caught up with him, and gave him an indian burn. She then returned to the living room, and started her homework. Minutes later, Andrew came back in the room and kicked Roni again.

"Dad told me I could," bragged Andrew.

Again, Roni got up and chased Andrew. This time, he went out the front door, but Roni didn't feel like chasing him anymore, so she stopped at the door, as Andrew kept running. Just then, Keith shot up from behind the bushes, and turned towards Roni. Roni, knowing what was about to happen ran to her room, shut the door, locked it, and sat in front of it. She was no match for him. He broke the door down, and started beating her, using anything hard lying around to help him inflict more pain. Then, he grabbed her by the hair, and banged her head into the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

12 year old Roni is awakened at dawn from the sound of a door slamming shut. Roni shot up out of bed, and looked around the room. Her eyes finally rested on the moving figure heading straight towards her. It was Keith.

"Wake up you little brat, where's my breakfast? You know it's your job to make me my breakfast, where is it?"

Still half way sleeping, Roni, not fully alert, replied "Huh?"

"Don't 'huh' me. I have to leave for work in thirty minutes and you didn't make me breakfast yet. Roll over."

"No, you don't have to hit me dad. I can go make breakfast for you right now. You don't have to hit me."

"And if I don't, tomorrow morning you won't have my breakfast for me either. This is the only way you will ever learn. Roll over, NOW!"

With that, Roni rolled over, as she got hit several times, over and over again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Keith stumbled into the door, around 9:00 p.m. at night, and fell down on the couch. Once he was familiar with his surroundings, he began to move again. Mary was sitting on the loveseat, and Roni was on the rocking chair, watching the TV.

"What the hell are you watching? Give me the remote, now. I ain't watching this crap. Give me the remote you slow retard."

"Here," Roni said as she threw the control at Keith. "Have your precious remote."

"Damn you, don't talk back to me." Keith said. He managed to stand up, and go over to where Roni was sitting. His arms started flying everywhere, as Roni began to block his punches. Frustrated that he was making no actual contact with Roni, he pulled a knife that was attached to his belt. Roni managed to finally get off the rocking chair and go to the middle of the room. Keith soon followed. He lunged at her several times with the knife. Finally, after taking so many steps back, escaping the wrath of the knife, she did an outside crescent kick, knocking the knife out of his hand, then spun around and did another crescent kick, kicking his chest.

"Get the f*ck out of my house, and don't you ever return," Keith shouted.

"Fine, I'm gone, and I'm never coming back." Roni yelled back, storming out the front door, slamming it shut.


	2. Getting Closer 2

Back into present time. Thinking about the past like that, it was too much for her, and she began to freak out. She found a nearby desk to destroy, throwing all of it's contents on the ground. Flower pots started to fly across the room, smashing up against the walls. Books where violently thrown everywhere. After a few minutes of her destructive actions, Roni found an extremely dark corner. She went over to the corner, and fell down, where she curled up like a kitten, and cried. Someone was walking in the nearby halls, heard all the commotion that was going on, and found their way over to Roni. It was Zoey. She walked over to the dark corner, sat down next to her sister, put her arm around her, and had Roni rest her head on Zoey's shoulder. There they sat, for the longest time, in silence. Finally, Zoey spoke up.

"Roni, what's wrong? What's going on? What happened?"

"Leave me alone. I just, I want to be alone. I just want to be left alone."

"Roni, it's okay. I can't leave you. That's not how we do things around here. Whatever it is, you don't have to go through it alone. You're not alone, you will never be again, not as long as you are apart of our family. We love you. You know that right? So come on, tell me what's going on."

"Why can't you leave me alone? I want to be left alone. Just go. Go away."

"I can't do that, not till you tell me what's going on."

With that, Roni stood up, walked off.

"Roni, wait up," Zoey shouted, but it was too late, Roni was out of eyesight. Zoey thought it was probably for the best. What Roni needed right now was time, she made that very clear. So she let Roni go, besides, she had other things to do.

************************************************

Leo was standing up, talking on the phone, trying his hardest not to yell into the receiver, when he suddenly slammed the phone down. Right around then, Margaret came in and shut the door behind her.

"Leo, Roni is here to see you."

"Me? Send her in."

Margaret then exited Leo's office and shuffled Roni into it. Upon seeing Roni, Leo walked over to Roni and ushered her over to the couch, and then sat on a chair.

"Hello Roni. What can I do for you?"

"I need to talk to someone, do you have a minute?"

"I'm honored you thought of me. So what's on your mind?"

"I need to talk to someone who understands."

"Understands what?"

"You are an alcoholic, right?"

"Yes."

"And your father was one too, right?"

"Yes."

"So was mine. Keith I mean. Lately, I've been thinking a lot about my past. Part of my past and all of it's charm, is Keith. He did a lot of things to me in his day, and every single time, he was drunk."

"I'm sorry. An alcoholic seldom thinks of the effect his actions will have on other people, least of all his own children. It isn't a good place to be, and I'm sorry you were there."

"What about you? Where you there? Did your dad do anything to you when he was drunk?"

"No, I was lucky. My mother, however, she wasn't so lucky. And before you ask, no, I never hit Mallory or Jenny."

"Why? What makes some alcoholics abuse people, and others only abuse themselves? I don't get it."

"I don't know. I don't really think it has that much to do with alcoholism. I think it has to do with the particular person and the monsters in his head. Alcoholism is just something to blame it on when they don't want to blame themselves."

"You know, he tried to kill me once."

Leo was speechless, only managing to give an empathetic stare to Roni.

"He came home from work early that night, cause he was drunk. I was in the living room, watching TV, and he started fighting me for the control. He never asked for it, he just started fighting for it. I almost immediately gave it to him. For some odd reason, this only seemed to elevate his anger, cause he wanted to fight with someone. Just my luck that he would choose me to fight with. At any rate, he ended up pulling a knife on me and tried to stab me."

"I'm so sorry."

"Not as sorry as I was," Roni said as she attempted to laugh to lighten the situation. "Hey, you think we can keep this conversation just between the two of us? Mom and dad have no clue that he tried to kill me. And I really think that's something they need to hear from me."

************************************************

After finally deciding to let Roni go, Zoey slowly began her way towards the Oval Office, to slow to know that Roni was right next door. Seeing that her father was on the phone, she quietly went over to one of the couches and waited until he hung the phone up.

"Hey Zoey, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Well I needed to talk to you about something, but first I have a question for you."

"With any luck, I may have an answer for you."

"When's the last time you saw Roni?"

"This morning, at breakfast. Why? What's wrong?"

"Well I just ran into her a tiny bit ago. Something's wrong with her dad, she totally flipped out."

"What do you mean she flipped out?"

"She tore this one desk apart, she threw books, flower pots, anything she could get her hands on. She completely destroyed the area, then she curled up like a cat, and cried her eyes out. When I found her and tried to get her to talk to me, she yelled at me, and told me to leave her alone. Said she just wanted to be left alone, then she took off to her room."

"What do you think could be wrong?"

"I don't know dad, that's why I came to you with it. But I'm gonna go check in on her a little later."

"Keep me informed, would ya?"

"Sure dad."

"So you said you actually had something else that brought you here. What is it?"

"It's a favor."

"A favor?"

"Yeah, I was wondering if you could do me a favor."

"What kind of favor?"

"I was wondering if you could let Charlie off early tonight, cause there's a new movie out that I wanted him to take me to see."

************************************************

  


	3. Getting Closer 3

Later that day, Roni was in her room listening to the radio. She had the curtains shut, in an attempt to make her room as dark as possible, to match her mood. Those same memories were still playing through her mind like a broken record. Only she wasn't flipping out this time. Instead, she just laid in her bed crying into her pillow.

Zoey opened the door. She has been standing outside knocking for the longest time. She went over to the radio, and turned the volume way down. She then proceeded to pull a chair away from one of the walls and brought it to the right side of the bed, where she sat down. Roni, acutely aware of Zoey's presence, said nothing. In fact, she even stopped crying.

Zoey, finally couldn't take the silence, she just had to speak. "So I told dad about your little episode earlier." Zoey waited for a reply out of Roni, but Roni kept silent. "He's very concerned about you. I am too, even if I never showed it before. He loves you Roni. Mom loves you. And I guess I even love you. We are not going to go away and leave you alone. That may be what you claim to want, but we know better. I know a cry for help when I hear one, and earlier, that was definitely a cry for help. So what is it? What's on your mind Roni?"

Finally, Zoey got a response from Roni, "Go away."

"Well at least you're talking now." With that, Roni was silent again. "I'm not going away. I can be very persistent. In fact, I'm willing to bet I can quietly sit here as long, if not longer, than you can quietly lay there."

It was minutes before Roni finally spoke up again, merely repeating herself from earlier. "Go away."

"Nope, can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Cause you haven't told me what's wrong yet."

"If I tell you, you promise to go away as soon as I'm done?"

"Nope. Cause depending on what it is, we might just have to sit here talking about it for a long time."

"Go away. Leave me alone."

"You'd think you'd realize that I'm not going anywhere yet."

"Fine, you want to know. I'll tell you. I've been thinking about my life, my life before. I've been recalling all of the times in the past when I was abused. I've been reliving every painful moment, feeling the pain all over again, as the belt would touch my skin. I'm remembering that last night that I lived with them. I never told anyone. In fact, I've managed to always change the subject when it comes up. He tried to kill me that night, Zoey. When I fought back, that's when he kicked me out, and I ran. I ran away from there as far as I could run. But lately, I've been wondering just how far I really got away. There, I told you, now go away."

"I'm sorry, I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because I can't."

"That's the best you can do? I told you what was going through my head earlier, what I'm thinking about now. What more do you want from me? Just go away."

"We're family, whether you like it or not. We are sisters. Now from where I'm from, sisters stick together, through think and thin, good and bad. I'm not leaving you now, not when you're like this. I can't."

"Why?"

"For one, I'd get in trouble with mom and dad. Plus, you look like you could use a friend right about now."

A few minutes passed, neither girl saying a word. They just sat there, like two lumps on a log.

"Zoey?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm scared."

"Of what?"

"Of the past, and of the future."

"Then you should know that we, this family, we will be here for you in the future. We will help you deal with the past, and we will help you get rid of your fears. But you're gonna have to let us help you. Deal?"

"Why would you want to help me? You don't even like me, you've said so millions of times."

"Because I am your sister. Because I love you, we love you. Because we weren't there to save you all those years ago. Because that's the kind of family this is. Take your pick." Zoey told Roni, as they sat in silence yet again.

************************************************

  


	4. Getting Closer 4

Jed Bartlet just finished his day of being president, and was now back in the residence of the White House. Remembering the little chat he had with Zoey earlier, he decided to go check in on Roni.

"Hey Roni, is there anything you maybe want to talk about?"

"Yeah. Yeah there is. Could you sit down first?"

"Sure." He said, siting in the same chair Zoey pulled to the bed earlier.

"Remember the trip to California?"

"Yeah."

"Remember how Pipsqueak said that when he met me I was running on the beach saying that there were demons chasing me?"

"Yeah."

"Well I'm ready to talk about it now, that is, if you're ready to hear it."

"I don't know if I'm ready, but you can tell me anyway."

"Okay, before I start, I feel the need to tell you that if you freak out in any way, shape, or form, I will not continue with my story. So you have to promise that no matter what you hear, you won't like, yell, or scream, or anything. Promise?"

"I promise that I will try not to do any of those things."

"I suppose that's good enough."

Taking a deep breath, Roni began, "Keith tried to kill me. He tried to stab me, and when I attempted to defend myself, he kicked me out of the house, and I gladly ran away, never to return." With this, a tear began to fall from one of her eyes.

"WHAT?!"

"Calm down."

"He tried to kill you?" Jed questioned, as he reached over and wiped the tear off of Roni's face.

"Yeah, he came at me with a knife, and repeatedly tried to stab me." Roni began to explain, as she realized Jed was really getting worked up. "Calm down, or you don't get to hear the rest of my story."

"There's more?"

"Yes, there is more. All my life, I grew up thinking that what a father does, is abuse his children. I grew up never hearing the words 'I love you.' Never hearing any kind of encouraging words. And then that night, when he tried to kill me, well, I just didn't have the best example of what a father should be. That night, when I was kicked out, or ran, whatever, I went to Kat and Piper's house. They tried their hardest to help me deal with these demons, among others that I will get into, but it took them forever and a day.

"When I found out that Keith wasn't my real father, I wasn't really sure that I wanted to find out who was my real father, cause I was afraid. I was afraid that the cycle would continue, that my real father would also be abusive, for that's all I've ever known. With some time, Piper convinced me that I should at least find out who my father really was, and then decide if I wanted to meet him and stuff. When I found out it was you, the Democratic Presidential candidate, well, I was really shocked.

"Ever since that day that I found out it was you, I began to follow the news, paying close attention to the race. I slowly began to get to know you and Mom. But that wasn't enough. It was no guarantee that the cycle wouldn't continue, for I was still in the mind set that all fathers abused their children. After months of counseling, Kat finally reached me, and helped me realize that these fears were, uh, that they were not exactly accurate. She opened my eyes to the idea that there are some loving families out there in the real world. A couple weeks after that happened, Zoey joined you on the campaign trail, and I began to see just how loving of a father you really were. So right around the time that you were voted in, I was finally emotionally ready to come meet you. I had dealt with my demons, or so I thought.

"So, you've probably realized that there was about a year in between when we first met and when you became president. Well, I was forced to go back and live with Keith and Mary. As you can imagine, the Williams' family didn't exactly change into the poster-boy family. It started all over again, abusing me, making me think that all fathers abuse their children, that all mothers sit back and watch. Right around then is when I started acting up. Doing crazy things, cause I no longer cared. The world had screwed me over more than once, and I no longer cared. I tried my hardest to remember the things Kat, Piper, and I talked about, but I began to fall into the same old trap. That's when I knew I had to get out. I had to get away from them. Right after graduation, I went to Piper and I told him who my real family was. A few days later, I was here, in Leo's office.

"So now you know. You know the entire story. My life story. My biggest fears, my demons. You know it all. So what do you think?" By this time, Roni had yet to really cry, but it was very clear that she was about to.

"Roni, you know I'd never hurt you, right? You know I love you?"

"Yes, now I know, but then, then, I didn't know, or I didn't want to know. Whatever the case, after a year and a half, I thought I had finally gotten over that night, the only thing is that it turns out, that I'm not really over that night. I've been thinking about it a lot lately. That's what was going through my head this afternoon when Zoey ran into me. That's what's been on my mind all day today."

Jed gets up and walks over to Roni's CD collection. After raiding the CD's, he finally found the one he was looking for. He had heard Roni play the song before, and he couldn't help but think of it when she was telling her story. After he put it in the stereo, he went over to where Roni was sitting on her bed. He sat back down, only this time it was on the bed, not the chair. The song, Crash and burn, sung by Savage Garden began to play.

When you feel all alone And the world has turned its back on you Give me a moment please to tame your wild wild heart I know you feel like the walls are closing in on you It's hard to find relief and people can be so cold When darkness is upon your door and you feel like you can't take anymore

Roni, letting her emotions get to her, stood up, as if she was going to pace the room. Jed managed to snag her, and sit her back down. He then took her hands into his.

Let me be the one you call If you jump I'll break your fall Lift you up and fly away with you into the night If you need to fall apart I can mend a broken heart If you need to crash then crash and burn You're not alone

When you feel all alone And a loyal friend is hard to find You're caught in a one way street With the monsters in your head When hopes and dreams are far away and You feel like you can't face the day

No longer able to fight the tears, they begin to form in her eyes. She looks down to the bed, and stares into space.

Let me be the one you call If you jump I'll break you're fall Lift you up and fly away with you into the night If you need to fall apart I can mend a broken heart If you need to crash then crash and burn You're not alone

Because there has always been heartache and pain and when it's over you'll breathe again You'll breathe again

Studying his daughter very carefully, Jed contemplated what he would say when the song ended, as he saw the tears slowly begin to flow from her damp eyes.

When you feel all alone And the world has turned its back on you Give me a moment please To tame your wild wild heart

Let me be the one you call If you jump I'll break your fall Lift you up and fly away with you into the night If you need to fall apart I can mend a broken heart If your need to crash then crash and burn You're not alone

After the song ended, Jed placed his right hand under Roni's chin, and lifted her head up, so as to look into her watery eyes.

"You're mother and I, we love you. We are here for you. Through thick and thin, Roni, we will be here for you. We will never harm you in any way. If you ever have a problem, no matter how small, you come to me, or you come to your mother. We are here for you, kiddo. If something happens to you, and you aren't sure how you feel, and you need someone to talk to, we are here for you. We are here for you, Roni. No matter what, we will always be here for you. In the past, you've warded us off, telling us not to feel sorry for you, and such. Now I understand that you are a very independent person, good for you. But the thing is, you're not alone. You are not alone, Roni. You have people here for you, who are willing to walk through fire for you. All you need to do is ask. You hear me? All you need to do is ask. We love you, Roni. I love you."

With that, Roni could no longer contain her tears, as they flooded her cheeks. After Jed wiped her tears away, he embraced her in a hug, and began to cry himself.

"I love you too, dad."

"Then let me help you. Let me help you finally put this all behind you. Okay?"

"Okay, dad, okay. I'll let you help me, but you have to promise to be gentle with me, this is a first."

"Deal," he said as they hugged once again.

************************************************


	5. Getting Closer 5

Notes: For some strange reason, I decided to make this be 7 parts, instead of 6, so now there are two more parts coming. Just so you know, I'm thinking the reason was so I could torture Dallas, cause she is EVIL!!

That night, in the bedroom of the first couple, Jed was sitting up in bed, thinking, sighing every once in a while. Abbey was also sitting up in bed, trying to read a book.

"Okay, that's it. If you sigh one more time, Josiah, I'm gonna have to hurt you. What's on your mind?"

"He tried to kill her."

"What? Who tried to kill who? When?"

"Keith Williams, he tried to kill Roni. She fought back, and that's when she was kicked out of their house."

"How do you know all this?"

"She told me earlier. I was gonna tell you sooner, but I didn't know how. That, and I've been to wrapped up in my own thoughts, that I just forgot about telling you."

"Are you serious? This wasn't a prank or something? She told you that he tried to kill her?"

"Yeah. And she was very serious, she even cried when she told me."

"What are you going to do about it, Jed?"

"I don't know, Abigail. What can I do? Other than be there for Roni, what can any of us do?"

"That goes without saying."

"Here, why don't you put your book down, and let's go to sleep. It's been a long day, and we are gonna have plenty of time to deal with this tomorrow," Jed said, as he leaned over, taking Abbey's book and putting it on the nightstand. He then turned the lights off, and they both laid down, snuggling up against each other. Neither of them could sleep, but neither of them said anything.

************************************************

The next morning, Roni didn't show up for breakfast, something she never missed in her three and a half months being at the White House. This peaked both Jed and Abbey's curiosity. Jed having to get down to the office wasn't able to go check up on Roni, but he sent Abbey to do so. After knocking on the door for about two minutes, Abbey finally decided that she was just going to go in. Upon her entrance, she discovered that Roni wasn't in her room. The first thing Abbey did, was go to the nearest secret service agent.

"Excuse me, my daughter, Roni, she isn't in her room. Could you radio whoever is on her detail right now and find out where she is for me?"

"Yes ma'am, right away." Speaking into his mike, the agent asked, "10-20 on Chinchilla.....10-4. Ma'am, your daughter has asked that her location not be revealed to anyone. However, I was told that she is just fine, and she has her detail with her."

"Did you call her Chinchilla?"

"Yes ma'am. That is her current code name."

"Chinchilla, as in those rodents that look kind of blue?"

"Yes ma'am. It was on her list of code names for us to use for her."

************************************************

Later that day, Abbey, still having heard nothing from Roni, remembered that she was supposed to go to work today. In fact, she should be there now. Remembering this, Abbey chose to call Belks, and talk to her daughter.

"Good afternoon, Belks men's department, this is Brad. How may I help you?"

"Brad, this is Roni's mother. Is she there?"

"No ma'am. Roni called in sick today. She told me you wouldn't let her out of the White House, that she was confined to her bed."

"Are you sure that's what she said?"

"Yes ma'am. I'm sure. I was even going to come check on her after work. Why? Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong. I'm sorry I bothered you at work."

"Ma'am, you would tell me if something was wrong, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, sure I would."

"Ma'am, is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong."

"Okay."

"Okay, well I'm going to let you get back to work now, Brad. Bye."

"Good bye, ma'am."

************************************************

  


	6. Getting Closer 6

Jed managed to get through the workday with no major problems. This was probably a good thing, considering that he wasn't very successful in waving off his concern for Roni. It just wasn't like her not to show up for breakfast. All day long, Jed anticipated the end of the workday, just so he could go find out what was going on with Roni. When he returned to the residence, his first stop was the presidential bedroom, where he got into more relaxed retire. Once he finished changing into jeans and a t-shirt, Abbey entered the room.

"Hey babe, I was just on my way to go find you and Roni."

"One out of two is going to have to do."

"What do you mean?"

"You're not going to find Roni."

"Why not?"

"Because she isn't in the White House."

"Where is she?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? Where is she? Did you ask the service?"

"Roni told Bobbie not to give away her location."

"So she has her detail with her?"

"Yes."

"And she's not in any trouble or anything?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Did you try her work?"

"Yeah. I talked to Brad earlier. Apparently, she called in sick, said I confined her to her bed."

"How could she just disappear? Where did she go? How long has she been gone?"

"I don't know."

Suddenly, a very loud crash was heard outside. Jed and Abbey, both very curious, opened up the doors, in hopes to find Roni. But all they found was a clumsy secret service agent, who had accidentally knocked a ficus plant over. After making sure Roni wasn't out there, the couple returned to their bedroom.

"When's the last time you saw her?"

"I don't think I saw her at all yesterday, except at breakfast. What about you?"

"There was our talk, when she told me Keith tried to kill her....."

"Jed, where do you think she could be?"

"Wherever she is, she's safe, she has her detail with her, and they'd tell us if something was wrong."

"Is that supposed to help me calm down, Josiah?"

"No, it was supposed to help me."

************************************************

  


	7. Getting Closer 7

Later that night, Jed wasn't able to sleep, for fear of what has happened to Roni. Did she run away? Jed kept tossing and turning, with these thoughts running through his head. Finally, he decided to go take a walk, perhaps a walk would clear his head. For the strangest reason, Jed was drawn towards Roni's room. When he showed up, he found Roni, who was quietly attempting to sneak in her room.

"Where the hell have you been?"

Roni jumped at the sound of Jed's voice, she didn't expect anyone to be behind her. She turned around and said, "I went out."

"Yes, this much I know. But where were you? When did you leave? Why did you leave? Who were you with?"

"I left really early this morning. Zoey thought it'd be a fun idea to go horse back riding."

"You were with Zoey?"

"Yeah. Why? You didn't realize she was gone?"

"Well with her back in classes for the fall semester, and living in a dorm room, no I hadn't really thought much about not seeing her today. So why did you tell your detail not to say a word as to where you were?"

"I didn't, Zoey did. Why? What's up?"

"Your mother and I have been going crazy trying to figure out where you were."

"Sorry. Zoey thought it would be fun, if we went out and did something together, just the two of us. It was her idea to do this, to spend the entire day......getting closer."

"Don't ever do that to me again. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I understand," Roni said as Jed grabbed her into a hug.

"You had us worried sick," Jed said, as he pulled Roni in a tighter hug, and kissed her on the forehead. "Now come let your mother know you're alright, so she can get some sleep."

THE END


End file.
